Key points
- Exploration licence EL2537 covers 2,558 square kilometres and includes geology similar to the Solwara 1 deposit.
- Target areas were selected based on reconnaissance sampling and survey work completed in 2017.
- CEO Mike Johnston said work has identified numerous exploration targets with geology similar to Solwara 1.
- Nautilus plans to test the targets subject to funding from its previously announced bridge loans and potential credit facility transaction.
NAUTILUS GRANTED NEW EXPLORATION LICENSE; INCLUDES NEW TARGETS
The government of Papua New Guinea has granted a two-year exploration licence to Nautilus Minerals Inc. which will allow the company to conduct exploration activities on this area within the southeast Bismarck Sea.
The exploration licence EL2537 covers 2,558 square kilometres, including the same prospective geology that hosts Nautilus’s Solwara 1 deposit. The area was selected based on reconnaissance sampling and survey completed in 2017. Nautilus gratefully acknowledges assistance in this area by the PNG Geological Survey.
Mike Johnston, Nautilus’s chief executive officer, commented: “The granting of this exploration licence is excellent news. Work done in the area by the company has identified numerous exploration targets with similar geology to our sea floor massive sulphide deposits found at Solwara 1. The work completed last year reconfirms the significant exploration potential for deepsea minerals over expansive yet unexplored metallogenic provinces. Our team has worked very hard to improve exploration efficiency, covering larger areas at lower costs, and the results at hand show that this approach is bearing fruit.”
Subject to receiving additional funding under the company’s previously announced bridge loans and potential credit facility transaction, Nautilus aims to test and progress these targets as soon as practicable, in order to advance the company’s plans of increasing its current resource portfolio to support future sea floor mining operations. PNG is renowned for hosting large mineral deposits and the same tectonics that drive mineralization at the nearby Bougainville and Lihir deposits, is also believed to drive sea floor mineralization at Solwara 1 and 12, placing this exploration licence in a favourable location. Nautilus looks forward to sharing the results once exploration commences.
All scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mike Johnston, who is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and is president and chief executive officer of Nautilus Minerals.
About Nautilus Minerals Inc.
Nautilus is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits. Nautilus was granted the first mining lease for such deposits at the prospect known as Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, where it is aiming to produce copper, gold and silver. The company has also been granted its environmental permit for this site.
